500 Seized in Several U.S. Protests on Troop Moves

About 500 people were arrested in cities across the nation Friday as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets for a second day, clashing with police and stopping traffic, to protest President Reagan’s sending of 3,150 U.S. soldiers to Honduras.

In skirmishes reminiscent of the Vietnam War era, demonstrators blocked entrances to federal buildings in Chicago, Boston and San Francisco, shouting peace slogans and scuffling with baton-wielding police officers.

Some demonstrators, in a display of passive resistance, had to be dragged or lifted to waiting police vans.

In Los Angeles, 25 people were arrested for trespassing when they refused to leave the entry hall of the Federal Building downtown after security officers decided to close the building an hour early at about 5 p.m. One woman on crutches was carried away in handcuffs, and a few others were dragged off by police, but most of those arrested walked out of the building on their own.

As the arrests began, about 80 other protesters outside the building sang anti-war songs, joined in the chant “Give Peace a Chance,” and carried placards reading “Defoliate Bush” and “Impeach Reagan.”

Among those refusing to leave the building was Doris McDaniels, 69, of Lawndale, who said she would not obey the police.

“It’s important that we avoid another war like Vietnam, and we’re willing to lay down our bodies to make Reagan bring the troops back,” she said.

In San Francisco, the site of the largest West Coast protest, more than 250 people were arrested at the Federal Building in the busy downtown area after violent confrontations between 100 police and 800 noisy demonstrators. Several protesters were struck with batons after attempting to grab at the riot gear worn by police, officials said.

Police were forced to reroute morning rush-hour traffic around the chanting demonstrators, and at one point protesters in vehicles purposely stalled three cars in the crowded traffic lanes.

Many of those arrested in San Francisco said that they hoped their actions would help publicize the Central American peace movement.

Arrests ‘Get More Press’

“If people get arrested, it gets more press,” said Ella Lively, 64, a member of Grandmothers for Peace and a veteran protester, having been arrested about 10 times.

“We will take whatever steps necessary to stop the war in Central America,” said Catherine Cusic, speaking for a coalition of anti-war groups in San Francisco.

“We’re not going to have another Vietnam,” she said. “The people’s commitment against this is very, very strong.”

Across town, about 200 demonstrators, some wearing business suits, chanted outside the Ferry Building, where Republican Sen. Pete Wilson has an office.

‘Best Possible Message’

“This is the best possible message you can send to Sen. Wilson and the Administration to bring the troops home,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco, told the crowd. “A cease-fire is a show of strength, not sending our troops to Honduras.”

San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos also said he was sympathetic to the demonstrators.

At New York City’s Times Square, about 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. Marine Corps and Army recruiting station and then marched east to the U.N. building. Some carried signs with pictures of Reagan labeled “World’s No. 1 Terrorist.”

Before the march, the demonstrators crowded below New York Newsday’s “zipper”--an outdoor electronic sign that flashes the newspaper’s headlines--as it displayed a news report of similar protests nationwide.

There were no arrests in New York City and police managed to keep commuter traffic flowing.

60 Arrested in Chicago

In Chicago, 60 people were arrested after they obstructed traffic on the city’s famous Loop, where nearly 500 protesters chanted, “Reagan sent the troops today, get them out is what we say.”

Meanwhile, 24 people were arrested outside the White House for blocking traffic when 150 protesters spilled onto Pennsylvania Avenue to unfurl anti-war banners reading “Bring the Troops Back Now” and “Stop Reagan’s Intervention.”

The 24 arrested in Washington were fined $50 each and were not jailed, said police spokesman Tom Randolph.

Another 24 protesters were arrested in Phoenix after they blocked the entrance to the downtown Federal Building with a 30-foot-long sign reading “U.S. troops out of Honduras.”

More Arrests in Boston

At least seven arrests were reported at a protest in Boston, where 30 members of the Pledge of Resistance stopped traffic at a military recruiting office across from the Boston Common.

Protests were also held in San Jose, Sacramento, Fresno, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Kansas City, Mo., Springfield, Mass., Tallahassee, Fla., Concord, N.H., Portsmouth, N.H., Montpelier, Vt., Media, Pa. and several other cities.

At the Santa Clara County Administration building in San Jose, California Rep. Norman Y. Mineta, (D-San Jose), told about 100 protesters that Reagan had used “a flimsy pretext” to send the troops to Honduras as a way to drum up patriotic support for his policies.

The protests were sparked by Reagan’s decision to send in U.S. forces to Honduras as a show of force after Nicaraguan soldiers crossed the Honduran border earlier this week in pursuit of the Contras, who are fighting the Sandinista government.

Responded to Request

Reagan’s move was in response to a request for help from President Jose Azcona Hoyo of Honduras, the White House said.

American troops were told to expect to spend about 10 days in Honduras, but spokesmen said there is no official timetable yet for their return to the United States.

Thursday’s protests drew large crowds but resulted in fewer arrests. The largest protests Thursday were in San Francisco, where more than 1,000 people marched from the Honduras Consulate to the Federal Building, and in Minneapolis, where 600 protesters set fire to a dumpster and barricaded streets with garbage cans.

Times researcher Norma Kaufman, in San Francisco, contributed to this story.